This year for the youth conference at our church, our kids went on a Pioneer Trek. It is basically a reenactment of what our Pioneer ancestors went through as they traveled from the East to the West. The youth and adult leaders who went all dressed in Pioneer era clothing (the girls made their own skirts, aprons and bonnets). They traveled for 3 days, about 7 miles a day pulling/pushing a handcart loaded with their belongings. I didn't get to go but Kevin & Michael went and they both said it was an awesome experience. All of our kids and adults leaders were split into families. And they split up all the different wards (we had over 140 youth involved from all over Missouri). Michael was put into a family and Kevin was a "pa" with another adult leader who was the "ma" and given children to take care of. Each family had 4-8 kids just as they did when they traveled in the late 1800's. They were even given a "baby" that was a flour sack with some material sewn over the bag. Michael said they had a rough time with the baby in their family, he was really funny telling me about how they accidentally dropped it and how the flour was coming out of the bag. He was so silly.
They talked about how hard it was to lose family members because as they traveled members of their family would "die" and have to leave. Both were amazed at how quickly the "families" bonded and how sad they were when a family member was lost. At one point all the men were called away to help fight in the war and that left the women and children to continue on alone with handcarts. They said it was hard because the terrain was rough. I have talked to many of our youth who went and they all said it was a wonderful experience and that it really helped their testimonies grow.
I am so thankful that our youth and my son and husband were able to go on this adventure and gain memories and bonds that will last a lifetime!
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